Missing
by Yet-Another-Weasley
Summary: Helga has finally had enough of her family ignoring her, so she decides to play hooky for a day... but ends up getting lost. What happens when Arnold finds her and decides to help? Helga/Arnold. Finally complete!  May do continuation in the future
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hmm... so I haven't written HA! fanfiction since I was in like 7th grade. Actually, I haven't really written any fanfiction in a long time. So here goes… :)

She never ran away before, even if she had threatened her parents in the past with doing so. Today just happened to be the last straw between her and her family.

Olga had returned home for her spring break. She would be home for two weeks. As much as her sister annoyed Helga, she could put up with her usually. What she couldn't deal with were her mother and father who thought Olga was the most great, perfect, wonderful daughter. When Olga came home, they had cleaned the house, made a huge dinner, and were waiting by the door to welcome her. Helga was tired of always be thought of last and always being forgotten. Since her parents remembered that Olga was coming home that weekend they had completely forgotten that they had another daughter.

And she was sick of being a servant to her mother and father. She was getting behind on her schoolwork because she had to clean and make dinner every night; Miriam was always lying on the sofa either sleeping or watching daytime TV. Her father worked all day and then joined Miriam in the living room, sleeping in his recliner. The worst part was that if Helga didn't finish her chores or get dinner ready in time, it would be all her fault. Nobody berated her mother for sleeping all day; somehow it was like everything was always Helga's fault.

So that day, Helga had had enough. Her alarm clock woke her up like usual. She got dressed and packed her bag for school. Before Miriam was even awake and after her father had left for work, she left. It wasn't until she was nearly at school that the idea came into her head.

She hadn't had time to finish her homework for her classes that day, so she would definitely be in some trouble. Instead of heading into the building with everyone else, she ducked down an alleyway and waited for the bell to ring and for everyone to go inside. Then she headed to the bus stop.

Now she had the whole day to herself. She walked around town for a while, window shopping and stopping at a deli to get lunch. Finally, she ended up the in park, where she sat under a tree and people watched. When it finally started getting late into the afternoon, she went to head back and catch the bus.

There was a bus at the bus stop and Helga ran to catch it. Unfortunately, it pulled away just as she got there. More unfortunately, that was the last bus of the night. She was stranded.

"Oh Mommy, Oh Daddy!" Olga cried out upon arriving home, "It's so lovely to see you! And where is my wonderful baby Sister? I can't wait to see how much shes's grown!"

"Oh, hmm, where is Helga? She's probably just in the kitchen getting dinner ready."

Olga hurried around the corner and into the kitchen to greet her sister, but was left puzzled. Helga was nowhere in sight and there was no dinner on the table. Miriam's plates from a late breakfast were still sitting on the counter.

"Where is my baby Sister at? She's not here!" Olga exclaimed.

"What? Helga didn't prepare your 'welcome back' dinner? She's going to be in a lot of trouble!"

Bob then went upstairs to find Helga's room completely deserted.

"Maybe she's at a friends house and forgot to tell us," Miriam suggested, "You know how kids are these days, they're so forgetful."

"Well when I get a hold of her!" replied Bob, "I guess we'll just have to go out to eat then."

Helga wasn't sure what to do. For one thing, she was scared, but on the other hand she was exhilarated. She really was on her own and could do anything she wanted to do.

She didn't have much money with her, so she decided to just walk around and maybe go see a movie. As she was walking down the sidewalk, she looked at all the happy families enjoying dinner together or the friends out for the night together. It wasn't so upsetting until she walked past an Italian restaurant and saw her own family sitting there… without her.

There they were, her mother and father and her sister Olga. They didn't miss her at all. Had they even noticed she wasn't there?

After that, Helga ran. She ran as fast as she could and didn't stop until her legs hurt. Tired, she found a place to sit and eventually fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks so much guys, for the reviews and favorites! It means a lot :)

The next day arrived and everyone headed to another day at school.

"Okay class," Mr. Simmons said, "Time to take attendance!"

Mr. Simmons called out their names and finally reached Helga.

"Hmm, that's funny, this is the second day Helga had been absent. It's not like her to miss school, let alone two days. Has anyone seen her?"

"No, Mr. Simmons," Phoebe replied.

The rest of the class chattered about Helga's absence. Mr. Simmons decided to head to the office to call Helga's parents.

The phone rang for a while, but eventually Miriam picked up, "Oh, hello?"

"Mrs. Pataki? This is Mr. Simmons. I was calling to see why Helga wasn't in school today."

"Helga? I thought she left for school already…" Miriam thought for a second, "Wait now, Helga wasn't home last night. I think she was staying at a friend's house."

"None of the kids in class have seen Helga and Helga wasn't in class yesterday either. I'm afraid I think Helga is missing."

"Oh dear! You don't think something happened to her do you?" Miriam suddenly became alert.

"Mrs. Pataki, I'll alert the school officials that Helga is missing. Maybe someone knows something or can help track her down."

Later that day, everyone in the school had heard that Helga was missing. The kids were sure that they hadn't seen her at all that day or the day before. Nobody had any idea where she could be.

"Oh, this is just ever so terrible. Poor, poor Helga, out there somewhere by herself all alone," Lila remarked.

"This is quite unlike Helga," Phoebe added.

"Maybe she's just been playing hooky," Gerald suggested.

"But she's been gone for two days," Stinky said, "A kid doesn't play hooky for two days. I couldn't even stay away from home or school for one day. I'd miss my mom's cooking too much to stay away two days."

Helga had meant to play hooky, but not for this long. She had fallen asleep the night before near the side of a building. When she woke up she found a couple dollar bills and some change on the ground next to her; passersby had obviously mistaken her for a homeless person.

She sat up and looked around. Where was she? It was strange for her not to recognize where she was; she had been most places around the neighborhood. She had to have walked pretty far to not know where she was. Even so, her stomach grumbled and she would have to figure out how to get home after she had something to eat. With the bit of money she had left, she walked into a nearby convenience store and bought something as a makeshift breakfast. Walking out the door, however, she came to realize she didn't have enough money left for a bus ride or subway ride. Now she was lost and stranded.

The day continued on, mostly as usual as it always was. Mr. Simmons class had math, history, english, and then lunch. After that, everyone was outside for recess.

Phoebe was by herself today, without Helga there to hang out with. True, she was friends with the other girls in their class, but she only really hung out with Helga. It worried her that Helga hadn't shown up and that her mother didn't know where she was either. Then again, Miriam wasn't a very reliable parent (according to the stories that Helga had told her).

"Helga is smarter than I thought she was," Phoebe overheard Rhonda say to some of the other girls. "I've dreamt about getting out of this terribly boring school, but I wouldn't ever have the guts to run away. Just think, she's out there living it up and were stuck watching Mr. Simmons teach us about the Revolutionary War."

"Yeah, I wonder what she's doing… probably everything a kid could do on a weekday off. Imagine the arcade during the school day; you wouldn't have to wait to play any of the games or anything," another girl remarked.

"Or maybe she's bored being all alone," replied Sheena. "The city is probably scary during the day time when no other kids are around."

Sheena was right; the daytime city was scary for a kid, especially if you didn't have any idea where you were. Helga was still lost and still had no idea how to get home. She was just walking around, trying to find someone she knew or something familiar.

And the more she walked around aimlessly, the more her mind also wandered. She suddenly forgot about being lost, and now hungry, and instead she was thinking about her parents.

_I wonder if they even realize I'm not home. Probably not, since they're still probably all 'ga-ga' over _Olga_. They definitely didn't know I was missing last night when they were having dinner at whatever fancy restaurant that was. Arghh! Why is it so hard for them to realize they have another daughter besides perfect _Olga_?_

She mused over the subject of her family for a while, it being her reason for running away after all. As she was thinking, though, Helga didn't realize she was walking further away and getting herself even more lost.

AN: Hmm… I feel like my chapters are too short, but I wanted to put something up regardless of the length. I'll try to make the chapters longer as I go along though : )


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm happy to know the chapters aren't too short… It didn't seem like I had been writing that much, but as long as they aren't _too_ short then I'm glad. I'm still going to try and make the chps longer.. :.P just because. :)

Arnold opened the door of the Boarding House and headed up to his room. He was planning on playing baseball with everyone else, but his Grandpa stopped him halfway up the stairs.

"How was school, Short-man?" his Grandpa asked him.

"It was alright," Arnold replied, "I'm heading out to play some baseball. See you at dinner!'

"Whoa now, hold on there Arnold! I received a call from your principal today."

Arnold stopped in his tracks again, "What? Why?"

"He-He-He, don't worry, you aren't in any trouble. Just some girl in your class's gone missing or something."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Simmons thought it was odd how Helga didn't show up today or yesterday with no call from her parents."

"Helga? That girl in the pink that calls you Football Head all the time?"

Arnold sighed, knowing his Grandpa was just jokingly trying to pick on him, "Yeah Grandpa, that's Helga."

He chuckled again, "I'm just messin' with you. Anywho, I'm heading to the farmer's market downtown, want to come along?"

"Well… I was going to play baseball with the guys," Arnold replied, "but what the heck, why not."

"That's the spirit!"

After Arnold went to tell Gerald he wouldn't be playing baseball with them, he and his grandfather got in the car and on their way to the farmer's market. It turned out to be a pretty long trip. With all the rush hour traffic, it took them nearly an hour to get there. It was worth it though; Arnold loved looking at all the neat things people were selling there.

"Hey Grandpa, mind if I go around and look on my own?"

"Sure thing, kiddo. Meet back here in half an hour."

"Okay, see you then." And with that, Arnold started making his way around all the tables people had set up.

He knew what he was looking for. There was a guy that always came here that sold records and cassettes. This guy had the best stuff, from classical to jazz to big band and swing; some of Arnold's favorites. As soon as Arnold found him, he started going through the albums, trying to find ones he didn't have already.

After looking for music, Arnold came across someone selling all kinds of baseball merchandise. He bought baseball cards for only seventy-five cents. He also got a new glove, which he had been needing for a while since his was so worn out.

He browsed around for a while, finding some interesting things here and there. Arnold even ran into a few people he recognized.

"Hi Mr. Pataki," Arnold said as he saw Helga's dad behind a table that read: "Beeper Sale: Ask for Details."

Mr. Pataki looked around and then finally saw Arnold off to his side, "Oh, Hi, you're uhh… someone from Helga's class right?"

"Yeah, I'm Arnold. Did Helga come home yet?"

"No," Mr. Pataki replied and Arnold couldn't really hear any worry in his voice, "But if you know where she is… you'd better tell her to come home right now. Her mother doesn't need anymore stress from worrying!"

Arnold, now regretting saying anything to Helga's dad, replied, "Yeah, sure, if I see her I'll tell her. I have to go meet my Grandpa, bye Mr. Pataki."

Mr. Pataki half waved and let Arnold get on his way. He actually didn't have to meet his Grandpa just yet, so he kept walking along the rows and rows of tables.

After looking around for a while more, Arnold didn't really see that much that caught his eye. He did buy a trinket for his grandma, but that was about it. Eventually, he decided to start making his way back to where he was supposed to meet his grandpa. As he turned around to head back, he finally saw something that caught his eye.

Or, rather, it was a _someone_ that caught his eye. He could have sworn he saw a girl walk by wearing pink and a bow in her hair.

_Weird. Why would I imagine seeing someone who looks like Helga? Maybe I'm just concerned about her being missing and all,_ Arnold thought.

But then he thought he saw her again. Yes, there was definitely a real, actual girl who just turned around the corner into the next aisle over. So, logically, Arnold followed her.

He watched her walk down the row of tables. He noticed that her dress was torn on the bottom and that her stockings had dirt on them. Hurrying after her, he called out her name.

AN: woops, this took way longer to finish than I thought. Sorry for the wait!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry sorry sorry! I know it's been months. So I don't blame you if you forgot about this story. School started up again and I didn't have a lot of time to write. But hopefully I'll have more time now. : )

Helga stopped dead in her tracks. She could have sworn she heard someone yell "Helga." Maybe she was just imagining things though, the flea market was pretty loud with everyone chatting and haggling.

She shrugged it off and kept walking, trying to figure out where she was and where she was going to go.

"Helga!" someone shouted. This time Helga heard it and knew it was real and she wasn't going crazy.

She stopped again and then slowly turned around. She definitely recognized that voice from somewhere.

"Helga? What are you doing?"

It was Arnold. Of all the people that could have found her, it was Arnold. She didn't know whether to be glad or worried about what he was going to say.

"Uhh, umm…" Helga said, trying to buy herself some time to come up with an explanation. "I don't know, what are you doing stalking me, Arnold-o?"

"Helga, you've been missing for two days! Are you okay? Everyone's worried about you."

"I'm fine, football head! And why would anyone be worried about me? I can take care of myself, I have been since I was in kindergarten."

"Okay, fine. If you're alright and you think you can take care of yourself, I'll just go then. I'm supposed to meet my grandpa anyway."

Arnold turned around and started walking back to where he was going to meet his grandpa. Helga didn't say anything until he was almost to the end of the aisle.

"Wait!" She said and ran after him, "Okay, I'm not okay. I have no idea where I am and have no way to get back." And then she just looked nervously at her feet, feeling a bit stupid.

"Come on," Arnold said, "I'm sure my grandpa won't mind giving you a ride back. We're pretty far away, I don't think you want to walk home."

So they started to walk back. Helga didn't know what to say. She still felt stupid for being lost and for being found by Arnold. So she just followed him silently. It was Arnold who broke the silence and started conversation again.

"So, umm, Helga. Why did you run away in the first place?" he asked.

Helga didn't say anything at first. She was absolutely dumbfounded that Arnold cared enough to ask such a question. Plus, she didn't know how to respond. None of the kids at PS118 knew what her family was really like, besides Phoebe anyway.

"Uhh, I don't know. I just needed a day off. It's complicated, you wouldn't get it."

She knew that Arnold had a perfect family. He lived with his crazy grandma and grandpa. His grandma might have been a little bit nuts, but she was really nice. Arnold might not live with his parents, but his grandparents were better parents than hers ever were.

"Okay, Helga," Arnold responded, but he could figure out that there was a bigger story.

They finally found their way back to Arnold's grandpa.

"Hey Shortman, who's your friend?" he greeted them.

"This is Helga, she's in my class. Would you mind if we gave her a ride home?"

"Not a problem, kiddo. Enjoy the market, Helga?"

Helga, for probably the first time ever, didn't give some snarky response. She simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Ah, well you don't always find good stuff. I didn't find anything worth buying either."

Arnold, his grandpa and Helga headed back. They got back pretty late, but when they pulled up to her house, Helga could tell that Bob still wasn't home. She sighed a sigh of relief. There weren't even any lights on in her house, which meant Miriam was either out or sleeping. Helga was glad she didn't have to deal with Miriam either. She hopped out of the car, thanked Arnold's grandpa for the ride and headed toward her front door.

She was about to open her front door when she heard a car door shut behind her.

"Umm, Helga?" It was Arnold.

She just looked at him.

"Are you sure you're okay? If you want to talk…" _Arnold couldn't believe he was saying this to her._ "If your parents aren't home, you could come and eat dinner at the boarding house. I'm sure my grandma won't mind."

Helga didn't even know what to say. Why was Arnold being so nice to her? She looked back at her dark house and imagined when she went inside she would probably grab whatever looked edible from the fridge and go up to her room to think about things until she fell asleep. Then she thought of Arnold's house and imagined a warm meal with food that actually tasted like something and being surrounded by nice (albeit quirky) people.

"Hey Arnold?" she said, "That sounds really nice actually." Then she followed him back to the car, where Arnold explained to his grandpa that her parents weren't home and she was going to eat dinner with them.

On the way back to the boarding house, Arnold was thinking: _What did I just do? If Gerald finds out that Helga is eating dinner at my house I'll never live it down. Still, I would have felt terrible just leaving her to an empty house. And what about when her dad comes home? He seemed pretty angry… not a concerned angry, but angry that she had caused them trouble. What kind of parent isn't even concerned that their daughter is missing? _

They were finally back and Helga followed Arnold into the house.

"Well, hi there Arnold and friend!" Arnold's Grandma appeared around the corner of the doorway, holding a big bowl of something in one hand while stirring its contents with the other. "We had a bit of a mishap with dinner so I had to start from scratch. It should only be another hour or so."

"Well, in that case," said Arnold. "I guess you can just put your things down in my room."

Helga still hadn't said a word since they left her house. She could have sworn this was all some weird dream.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Hey again, thanks for reviewing and for sticking with the story! I really do mean to update more often now. Especially since this term I only have four days of class… so more time to write. : )

anonymous latina: that's so funny you were thinking about this lol what a coincidence that I updated it

She followed him up to the second floor and up to his room. Of course, she had been there before, but he didn't know that. Arnold went and put his things near his desk and then he went to sit near his bed. Helga watched him; she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. She put her things down just inside the entryway and then walked around the room, looking at all of Arnold's things.

There was a picture of Arnold and his grandparents. She picked it up and imagined the scene coming to life. They were such a happy family, even if Arnold's parents weren't there.

"You're so lucky…" Helga said, although not really realizing that she had said it out loud.

This made Arnold look over at her, "Every family has its issues, Helga." But after seeing Helga's dad at the market he realized this probably wouldn't help her any. Even if he didn't have his parents here, he still had loving grandparents and the boarders who were like his uncles and aunts.

"Helga, why did you run away?" he asked when she came and sat down a few feet away.

"I… I don't want to go back there. I'm so sick of having to be a grown up when I'm just a kid. I hate not being noticed unless it's to take the blame for something. I just wish I had a normal family."

Arnold just looked at her. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better. How could she feel better? He certainly couldn't change her situation even if he wished he could.

Then he saw her become angry. "You wouldn't understand! You've got a perfect family here. Why did I even come here? I don't need your pity!"

She went to get and try to run out of there, but something made Arnold stop her. As she went to get up, he grabbed her wrist so that she came crashing back down onto the floor.

"Stop running away! That's not going to solve anything," he told her. "I'm sorry, I really am."

"Can I… just use your washroom?"

He let go of her wrist, "Sure, it's down the hall on the left."

She practically ran to the bathroom. After locking the door she slumped down to the ground behind it. _I shouldn't have come here, he won't understand. How could he… why is he trying to be nice to me? I treat him like crap every day. I make his life miserable. I'm such a jerk. I deserve to have horrible parents! _

She got up and washed her hands. When she looked into the mirror she noticed how terrible she looked. Her hair had tiny bits of dirt in it and her dress was dirty as well. She tried to wash it as best as she could with cold water from the sink. She stuck her hair under the faucet and tried to rinse some of the dirt out of it. Now her pigtails were wrecked so she had to pull her hair back into a ponytail, which she secured with her new raggedy pink bow.

She peered down the hallway; she wasn't really in a rush to go back and see Arnold after what'd just happened. Still, she didn't have anywhere to run so she headed back to his room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to grab your wrist like that."

"It's fine. It's no big deal." She sat down next to him, but still kind of far away.

Arnold wasn't sure what to say. He could tell that Helga didn't trust him. She was right. How could he understand how her family was? His was different in its own way, but he had never experienced a family like hers before.

It was so quiet right then. Arnold usually had some kind of music playing while he worked on homework or read or just daydreamed. But this instance was so quiet. He could hear his clock ticking the seconds away. Two floors below he could here his grandma singing and talking cheerfully as she fixed their dinner. This silence was just so unbearable.

"I saw your dad. At the market, I ran into him."

Helga just replied with a simple, "Oh."

Again, there was silence for a long while.

"Well…" she said, "Did he… what did he say?"

_I shouldn't have said anything_, Arnold thought. How was he supposed to respond? Mr. Pataki seemed like he couldn't have cared less about Helga's being missing. He didn't want to tell her that.

"Helga, what's going to happen when you go back home?" he asked instead of giving her an answer. He had a feeling she knew the answer to her own question and he didn't want to make anything worse than it was.

"Who knows? Miriam probably won't have even noticed. She probably thinks I've been in my room all this time. Bob will probably go crazy for a bit, but Olga's home so I'm sure she'll probably have won some award that'll cheer him up. And Olga?" she explained and then mocked Olga's voice, "She'll probably hug me to death and say something like _Baby Sister! Where did you run off to? I missed you so much! You missed my dinner the other night. It was just oh so wonderful spending time with mommy and daddy again!_ And then things will go back to how they were and they won't have remembered me running away. We'll just be back at the beginning again. It's a big vicious circle, but I just had to get away from it for a while."

Arnold tried to imagine what Helga's home life was like. Sure, he had seen her father before and he was kind of a jerk, but he had no idea. And how could her mother not even realize she had been gone for this long?

He thought of his own parents… the ones he had never met, but had imagined. What if they were like that? How could he be so sure that his parents were as good and wonderful as he pictured them being? Why would someone have a child if they didn't mean to love it?

"Helga… you're right. I don't have any idea what you're going through. My grandparents are some of the best people I know. I don't remember my parents, so I don't know what they were like. I know you don't think your parents love you, or even like you, but you just have to try and find the good in them."

"That's not as easy as it sounds, you know," she replied. She didn't want to argue with Arnold; she knew this was just how he was. He always tried to do the best thing and find the best in everyone, even in her.

"So will you come back to school tomorrow?" Arnold asked.

She didn't respond for almost a minute and then, "I don't know." She got up and went over to Arnold's radio, turning it on and tuning to a random station, "Can we talk about something else now?"


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Sorry, took a bit longer to get a new chapter up this time. I was working on this a while ago and sorta drew a blank, but I think you'll enjoy this chapter. =) As always, thanks for reading!

"Sure," Arnold replied.

The music Helga put on the radio was some kind of alternative station. The song was a piano rock ballad with a male singer. It wasn't really Helga or Arnold's kind of thing, but the two of them left it on anyway. Neither wanted to change the station lest the other person not like what they put on. Eventually, however, Helga spoke up.

"You don't like this sort of music, do you?" she asked.

"No, you?"

Helga laughed just a bit, "Nope."

"I'll put something else on then." And he went over to his shelves and pulled out on of his favorite CDs. It was big band and swing type music. He didn't know if Helga would like it, but he decided to take the risk. He pressed play and then went to sit back by Helga.

The music started to play and the sound filled the room. It was definitely different than the piano song that had been playing on the radio. This song made you want to get up and move to the rhythm. Arnold did just that. He stood up and grabbed Helga by the wrists, pulling her up so that she was standing. She gave him a quizzical look.

"Come on, Helga," he said, "Just follow what I do. It'll be fun."

She was reluctant at first, but she really did think this song was good and so it was easy for her to dance to. Helga had never done swing dancing before, so she had no idea what she was supposed to do, but she did her best to follow Arnold's lead.

The two of them twirled around Arnold's room. Arnold spun Helga around and then pulled her back in toward him. Helga had to admit, this was never something she dreamed of doing with Arnold, but it was definitely a moment she would never forget.

"Okay, ready?" Arnold asked her. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Then, unexpectedly (at least to Helga), he grabbed her waist and she went up into the air. She closed her eyes; partly because she was scared that Arnold would drop her and partly because she was completely in the moment. He then set her back down and they danced until the song was over. When the song was finished the two of them stood there smiling at each other.

"Arnold?" she said, "Thanks. I really needed that."

Arnold smiled at her, "How come you're never this girl at school? You're this sweet, brave girl who's full of emotion, but you only ever show the Helga who is mean and distant. I wish I could see this girl all the time; it was nice getting to see the real you for a change."

Suddenly, Helga felt shy. She looked away, not providing an answer to his question. But he understood, she wasn't just hiding from her classmates and friends; she used a different personality to block out the abuse from her family. He just wished he could get her to be open all the time instead of just the rare occasion.

Arnold heard his grandma coming up the stairs, presumably to tell the two of them that dinner was finally ready.

"We should do this again sometime," he said to Helga.

Before Helga could say anything, Arnold's grandmother opened the door and came in. Just as Arnold predicted, dinner was finally prepared.

Arnold's grandma led the way downstairs to the dining room. Dinner was ready, but only Grandpa and Mr. Hyuhn were sitting at the table. Grandma went to bring out the food while Arnold and Helga sat down.

"Where is everyone, Grandpa?" Arnold asked.

"Apparently it's Suzie and Oskar's anniversary, so she took him out somewhere. And Ernie got tired of waiting and ordered take out food." Phil's stomach growled, "Well, I guess if I weren't in love with Pookie I'd have given up on dinner by now too."

Luckily, Arnold's Grandma walked in a couple seconds later with a ton of food. There was a big bowl of mashed potatoes and another with macaroni and cheese. She also brought out cooked carrots and bread and butter. It was a weird meal, but everyone was starving so it didn't matter. Helga, in particular, thought it was one of the best meals she had ever seen. Her parents never cooked anything this good and she usually ended up eating cereal or some kind of microwave meal for dinner. This food, she thought, was fantastic.

They finished their meal and then everyone headed into the common room. Grandpa leaned back into the recliner and shut his eyes.

"You aren't going to fall asleep out here, are you?" asked Arnold, knowing that this was what his Grandpa did every night. He would eat dinner then come out here to say he was resting his eyes. Later, when Arnold would come downstairs to get a drink he would find his Grandpa sound asleep in the same exact spot he was earlier.

"Nah, I'm just resting my eyes. They've been open all day, haven't they?" Grandpa replied with a smiled.

Mr. Hyuhn was sitting on the sofa, reading a novel. Arnold's Grandma was washing up the dishes. Helga sat down by the fireplace and Arnold sat on a chair close by. He watched her silhouette and she watched the roaring flames. He remembered a dream he had once where he visited his cousin and everyone looked like the kids from PS. 118. That girl in his dream, the one that looked like Helga, he could have sworn he was looking at her right now. Arnold wondered what would become of their friendship after tonight, after things would probably go back to how they were before.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Princess7Strawberry – Sorry for the mix-up. Actually, where I'm from ' flea market ' and 'farmers market' are pretty much interchangeable. What I pictured was like a bunch of booths set up with people selling used stuff or selling food and crafts and stuff. I hope that kind of makes sense. Haha. Anyways, thanks for reading!

She sat there, staring into the fire. Helga wondered what was going to happen tomorrow; she didn't want this night to ever end. Right now she didn't have to think about her parents or her sister. She didn't have to think about having missed school the past couple of days and all of the work she would have to make up now. Right now was perfect, she wished it could always be like this. Somehow, she had managed to show her other side to Arnold. She didn't even pull away like she usually did. She let all her worries go and just had a good time for once.

They sat in silence for a bit and then Arnold's grandpa, who was surprisingly still awake, started telling them stories. The one he told was one that Arnold had heard before, and Grandpa knew that, but he had a motive. Phil told them about when he was Arnold's age. There was this girl, a bully, that would constantly pick on him, tease him, hit him, and who was just mean in general.

As soon as he started the story, Arnold knew where he was going with this. The first time his Grandpa had told him this story Arnold thought he was crazy. There was no way that he, Arnold, would ever like Helga. Now, however, things were very different. He knew why Helga acted the way she did. He also knew that she had a totally different side to her that she kept hidden. He didn't know if he'd ever marry Helga, like his Grandpa married that girl who used to tease him, but he hoped that maybe his relationship with her would change.

Helga eyed Arnold's Grandpa quizzically. Every time she had been in Arnold's boarding house Arnold's Grandpa had given signs that he knew she liked Arnold. She always thought that maybe he was crazy, but now she knew that Arnold's Grandpa knew the truth. When he finished his story, Helga smiled. She knew it was a long shot, that the same thing would happen with her and Arnold, but she hoped that maybe they would be friends after this at least.

Arnold's Grandpa told them more stories. As it got later and later, Helga was sure that he was starting to stretch the truth a bit with what he was saying. Each story seemed to get more out there than the last. Helga could feel herself getting tired. It seemed like this was true for all three of them. Even Mr. Hyuhn had gone up to his room at least twenty minutes ago.

Arnold yawned, "Grandpa, you know we have school tomorrow right? I think I'm going to head up to bed."

"Oh, look at the time! Sorry, Arnold, I must've gotten carried away. Goodnight Arnold," he said. "And goodnight miss Helga."

Arnold got up out of the chair and Helga followed suit.

"So, where am I going to sleep?" Helga asked.

"Hmm, well I guess you could sleep on the couch in my room. If that's alright?" he replied.

"Yeah sure. I'm sure that would be fine."

They reached Arnold's room and Helga waited near the doorway. Arnold flipped the couch out from the wall and found an extra blanket from the closet. He also got the extra pillow from his bed and made a makeshift bed for Helga.

"Thanks Arnold," Helga said.

She took her shoes off and pulled the pink bow from her hair. It's not good to sleep with your hair up, you know. Then she slid under the covers and rested her head on the pillow.

Arnold had gone to the washroom to get changed and brush his teeth. When he came back, he too slipped under the covers of his own bed. He clicked the lights off and the room was dark.

Even though they were both very tired, neither could get to sleep easily.

Helga didn't want the night to end. This was one of the best nights she had had in a long time. She had surprised herself. She usually freaked out around Arnold and put on her façade. Tonight though, she found it relatively easy to just be her self, her real self. She hoped she would be able to stay that way.

She also didn't want the night to end because she hated to imagine what tomorrow would be like. She was going to go back to school… because she knew if she ran away then she wouldn't even have Arnold to go to anymore. But then after school she also knew that Arnold would probably make her go talk to her parents, or at least just go home since she couldn't stay on his couch forever.

Eventually though, Helga drifted off into sleep.

Meanwhile, Arnold had also been lying awake in his bed, thinking. He didn't want the night to end. He had learned so much about Helga and this was the first time he had had a good time while being with her (_well at least to his knowledge… you know, not counting the other times he had had with her but not exactly known it was Helga he was with_). He wondered what would happen tomorrow. Would things just go back to how they had been between the two of them? Would Helga go confront her family? He couldn't help but imagine how Helga's father, Big Bob, would react. Arnold thought maybe he could go with Helga to see her parents, but then thought it might be a bad idea. If her father knew Helga had spent the night at the boarding house he might get more upset. But Arnold still wanted to help Helga… he just didn't know what to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Sorry for taking soo long again. I just finished the summer term of school so that was kind of hectic. But here is chapter eight… finally! : )  
I wrote this and then I rewrote it… so that's probably why it took so long to get up. But anyway, hope you all enjoy!

Helga began to stir. She could see light streaming through her eyelids and knew that it was morning. She wished it could have stayed nighttime for just a bit longer; she was dreading today and whatever events it was going to bring with it.

She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to rid her head of the bed-hair she knew she had. Next she looked over at Arnold. He was still sleeping since his alarm clock still had a few minutes before it went off. Helga got up and headed to the bathroom to fix herself up for school.

As she walked into the tiny washroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her messy hair hung down around her shoulders. Her pink dress was slightly wrinkled and needed washing. She didn't look like the Helga she was a few days ago… but then again, she didn't feel like the same Helga she was a few days ago either. She had told Arnold things that she never really told anyone. Sure, Phoebe sort of knew how her family was, but not because Helga spilled her feelings to her. Phoebe just sort of had a knack for seeing reality. Arnold did too, but sometimes his 'look on the bright side' attitude got in the way.

She grabbed a comb that was sitting on the edge of the sink and brushed out her hair. It was too messy to get into her usual pigtails so she made it into a braid that hung over one of her shoulders. Hopefully the kids at school wouldn't say anything about it, she thought. After she got some of the dirt off of her dress, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. She thought it would be best if she let Arnold wake up and get ready and then he could just meet her down there. It was probably late enough that someone in the boarding house would be awake and downstairs by now anyway.

Arnold woke up to the sound of his alarm. Still tired, he hit the snooze button on top and flopped back into his pillow. A few seconds later, however, he popped back up. He looked around the room, but Helga was nowhere to be found. For a minute he wondered if all that had happened last night had been a dream; he was prone to having strange dreams involving his classmates. When he saw the blanket lying on his sofa, he realized that Helga had been there. So he quickly got up, got changed, grabbed his school things and took off down the stairs to the kitchen. He hoped that Helga didn't sneak off in the middle of the night.

As he rounded the doorway into the kitchen, he was surprised to find Helga sitting at the table. His grandma had provided her with some orange juice and scrambled eggs.

"Morning Grandma," Arnold said, "Morning Helga."

"Good morning," Helga replied.

Arnold grabbed his own breakfast off the counter and made his way to the kitchen table. He watched Helga as she moved the last bit of her scrambled eggs around her plate with the fork she was holding. She didn't look grumpy or mean like she usually did. But Arnold didn't like seeing her look like this. Helga looked almost worried and like her mind was preoccupied with some troublesome thought. Arnold knew she was probably imagining what school was going to be like today and what was going to happen when she went home.

"Errm, if you want," Arnold started, "We could hang out again after school."

He watched as the worry left her face, "Uhh sure Football head, it's a… sounds like fun…"

Arnold chuckled. He knew that Helga had caught herself before she said, "It's a date."

They ate the rest of their breakfast in a relative silence. It wasn't that kind of awkward silence, but more of content and peaceful silence. Even Grandma was barely making any noise, which was quite unusual. Soon enough, however, Arnold and Helga could hear the loud chatter of their classmates walking down the street to catch the bus. They figured they should probably head out as well and so they grabbed their things and left.

The bus pulled up to the corner and Arnold and Helga along with some of the other PS 118 kids got on. Phoebe was already sitting towards the back and Helga decided it would probably be best to go explain what had happened to her. She turned around and looked at Arnold, "Guess I'll see you later then."

"Sure," he replied.

Helga went and took a seat next to Phoebe.

"Helga! Are you okay? Where have you been?" Phoebe asked her.

Helga didn't know where to start; a lot had happened over the past day, let alone the past few days. And there were things that she didn't even want to tell Phoebe. Some things were better kept to one's self instead of spread around as gossip.

"I sort of ran away and then I got lost. It was no big deal; I am still alive after all. I just couldn't take anymore 'Olga this' and 'Olga that.' Bob and Miriam drive me up the wall and I'm tired of having to take care of myself when I'm only a kid," Helga said, her voice gradually getting louder as she continued to speak. She caught herself though.

"But Helga, you shouldn't have run away. You could have gotten into trouble. If you ever need to, you can talk to me if you want… about whatever."

"I know, Phoebes. I guess I just get so fed up that I just need to escape for a while. I only meant to go out for a few hours, but I got stuck downtown and couldn't get back. That's why I was gone so long."

It was a while before Phoebe said anything else. They were just arriving at school and everyone was getting off the bus when Phoebe replied. "So, Helga, how did you get back?"

As Helga was walking down the aisle of the bus she looked out the window. Arnold was walking up to the school with Gerald; he looked back at her and smiled.

"Uhh… it's kind of a long story," Helga replied.

Phoebe gave her a quizzical look as the two of them stepped off of the bus.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Glad you liked the last chapter. Here's chapter 9:

"Hey look!" Harold said, pointing, "It's Hel-ga! Where've you been, Helga? How come you haven't been at school?"

Helga had been expecting this. She knew people were going to ask questions. She knew people thought she had been kidnapped or something. Still, she didn't feel like dealing with it from Harold.

"What's it to you, Bucko?" she replied, "Mind your own business for once in your life!" Then she hurried off to Phoebe's locker.

"So, do people really think I was missing?" she asked her friend.

"Well, yeah sort of. The school called your parents as part of the regular procedure for when students don't show up at school and their parents didn't call them out sick. You're mom didn't know exactly where you were. She thought you were staying at a friend's house or something," Phoebe explained. "Mr. Simmons got really worried, but I'm not sure if he told the police you were missing or anything. He probably should have though, if he didn't."

"Yeah, that would have been great, Phoebe. That's just what I need, the police coming after me. Bob would have a fit if the cops brought me home!"

"I hope he would just be happy that you're safe, Helga."

"He can't even get my name right, you think he cares about my safety? Puh-lease!" A bell ran. "Come on, we'd better get to class."

The two girls hurried down the hall and into the classroom. Almost everyone was there already. Stinky and Sid were constructing paper airplanes and storing them in their desks for some amusement throughout the day. Rhonda was doodling on the corner of her desk in a bored fashion. Some kids were huddled together, giggling or just talking. Nobody even noticed when Helga and Phoebe walked in, which Helga was happy for. She went and took a seat in her desk behind Arnold's. Class was about to begin.

Mr. Simmons walked into the room and set his bag down on the desk. After taking out some books and an apple, he started the task of taking role.

After getting through most of the class, he called out, "Helga Pataki?" Then he looked up.

Helga let out a very small, "Present."

"Helga, do you have any explanation as to your absences the past few days. Myself and your classmates have all been very worried."

"Oh, uhh…." She started and then there was a few moments of silence, "I was away with distant relatives. The, uhh, bus broke down and I was stranded for a few days. That's what my mom meant when she said I was staying at a friend's house. Yeah…"

"Well, Helga, you need to tell your parents to call the Principle this evening. It's school protocol to report any absences so that they can be deemed as 'excused.' You'll have to talk to Principal Warts and you'll have to be sure to make up the work from when you weren't here. Make sure you see me during lunchtime or after school this afternoon."

"Uhh, yes sir," Helga replied, sinking down into her chair. _Great! Just how I wanted to spend my lunch hour. And how am I supposed to get my parents to tell Principal Warts that I was away with relatives when I really wasn't._

Meanwhile, Arnold turned around and gave her a stern look. "Lies aren't going to solve anything, Helga," he whispered to her, but he then he also gave her an encouraging look.

The rest of the morning went like any other normal day of school. They had social studies and then English, Helga's favorite part of the day. Apparently they had been assigned short stories to write during the time that Helga hadn't been there. So some of the students were called upon to read their stories out loud in front of the class. As usual, the stories were silly and unimaginative. Helga grew bored easily as Stinky read his story about farm life and cows.

Finally it was time for lunch. Helga stayed at her desk as she watched the other students dart for the door, hurrying to be the first in line at the cafeteria. She was surprised to see that Arnold had also remained seated.

"Arnold," she said, tapping him lightly on the shoulder, "It is lunchtime you know."

"I figured I would stay and help you catch up on the work you missed. I'm not that hungry anyway, so it's fine."

Helga gave him a weird look. It was almost the same look, she realized, that Gerald was also giving Arnold from the classroom doorway. Gerald walked back into the room and stood next to Arnold.

"Hey man, what are you still doing sitting here?" he asked. Then Gerald looked at Helga, "Does this have something to do with her?" 

Arnold paused for a moment. He thought about what Gerald would say if he told him the real reason he stayed behind was because of Helga. In fact, Gerald would probably think he was pretty crazy if he ever told him that Helga had spent the night at his house and that they had danced in his room. He would never live it down.

"Uhh, no, not at all. I just had something to ask Mr. Simmons. I'll catch up with you during recess," Arnold lied.

"Alright man, catch you later." And with that Gerald left to catch up with Phoebe.

Arnold turned back to Helga, who now had her arms folded across her chest.

"What?" he asked.

"Lies aren't going to solve anything, Arnold," she said, mimicking what he had said to her earlier. "Are you really that ashamed to be seen with me?"

Arnold had this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had wanted to help Helga, but he probably just made things worse.

"It's just…" he started, "You know…" He paused, "… I don't know. I'm sorry."

Helga shrugged and gave a half smile-half frown.

"Here, let's get started so maybe we can make it to recess at least." Arnold said and opened up his notebooks.

They had had quite a few assignments during the past few days. Helga copied down the spelling assignment and definitions for social studies. The story assignment was easy. Helga's story took up a few pages, but she didn't show Arnold. They also had a science experiment, but Helga wouldn't be able to make that up since it was an in class assignment and they didn't have the equipment available anymore. It didn't take the two of them long to get Helga caught up on everything.

Helga was putting away her things when Arnold said something again, "Are you going to talk to your parents tonight?"

She looked at him and shrugged.

"I know it's what you're worried about."

"Well, I guess I have to figure something out. Maybe Miriam will be so delirious when I get home that I can convince her to call Principal Warts and go along with my story. Then if Bob realizes I was gone I can just say I was staying at Phoebe's house or something," Helga said, "Then everything can go back to how it was I guess."

"Is that what you really want?" Arnold asked. They were now leaving to go to lunch. Arnold grabbed Helga's books off her desk and started walking towards the door. Now she had to follow him and couldn't avoid answering the question.

"Hey!" she shouted. They made it to her locker and she turned the lock to her combination. Arnold placed her books inside and she grabbed her lunch that Arnold's Grandma had packed. As they walked toward the cafeteria she finally replied, "No… that's not what I want, obviously. But I don't see how anything is ever going to change. I want a normal family, but I know I'll never have it. I'm meant to be alone… to take care of myself."

"That's not true. I wish you could be who you are right now all the time. You're not alone… you don't have to be by yourself all the time.." Arnold replied and looked her straight in the eyes. He didn't say it, not outright anyway. He hoped she knew what he meant. He didn't want her to be alone and he wouldn't let her feel like that anymore. Helga was growing on him… there was just something about her… this other 'her' that didn't hide behind meanness and insults.

A/N: I'm hoping to get this updated more often. So hopefully I'll get the next chapter up quick too. :o)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks for reading. Sorry for some grammatical errors. Trust me, I know my grammar, but I typed up that chapter really fast and most of it late at night so I wasn't thinking about grammar or typos. Haha. But I'm glad you still enjoyed it. So, here's chapter 10! : )  
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Lunch went by quickly. They made it to the cafeteria just after everyone had left for recess, but the lunchroom aides let them stay inside to eat. It was just Helga and Arnold, which, on any other day, would have been awkward and would have had a lot of tension in the air. Somehow, though, the situation seemed so relaxed. Helga felt so unlike herself, and yet she felt exactly like who she really was. It was like Arnold had said, this was the girl she should be all the time. This was the real Helga, and even she knew that she needed to grow up and stop acting like a jerk all the time.

It was about five minutes before the bell was going to ring to end recess. Phoebe, who had been standing outside by the door with Sheena looked into the cafeteria (although not purposefully) and was surprised to see Helga. She made sure the teacher wasn't looking and quickly opened the cafeteria door and entered.

"Uhh, Helga?" she asked, walking over to the table that Arnold and Helga were sitting at.

"Hi Phoebe," Arnold greeted her.

"Hello Arnold. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing inside?" she asked. Under normal circumstances Arnold would have never sat at the lunch table with Helga and he certainly wouldn't dine alone with her. Phoebe knew something had to be going on.

Arnold swallowed the bit of his sandwich that he had just taken a bite of and then replied, "Just eating a late lunch… Helga and I stayed in with Mr. Simmons to catch up on assignments." He paused, "Yeah, that's all."

Phoebe eyed him suspiciously, "Okay. Well, mind if I talk with Helga?"

Arnold got up and picked up his trash from the table, "Go right ahead. I'm going to go see what Gerald's up to. See you later."

Helga gave a just barely detectable smile and watched him leave. Then she turned to Phoebe.

"Helga! What are you doing eating lunch in here with "ice cream?" Phoebe asked.

Helga tried to play it cool and act like she didn't know what Phoebe was talking about and that there was nothing going on. But Helga knew Phoebe was never just going to let it go and so she finally gave in and told her best friend everything.

"You what?" Phoebe said, astonished. Phoebe didn't know whether to be happy for Helga or to be upset that Helga lied about where she had been the past couple of days.

"I'm sorry, Pheebs," Helga replied. "You know I didn't mean to worry you, and I honestly didn't mean for any of it to happen. Sometimes I just need to be on my own to figure things out. But I was also kind of lucky that Arnold found me."

"So, what's going on between the two of you?" Phoebe inquired.

"It's… It's complicated," she said. "It's hard to explain, but I feel like I can show him who I really am or I at least want to try to."

The bell rang and the girls had to hurry back to class. Helga was glad that she had spoken with Phoebe. She wondered what Arnold and Gerald talked about. She pictured Gerald's reaction:

"_Say what?" Gerald said, "Are you making this up, Arnold? Did I just hear you say Helga stayed at your house last night… Helga G. Pataki?"_

No, she thought, there was no way that Arnold told Gerald about the previous evening. Still, it made her a bit upset knowing that Arnold would always be too embarrassed to admit he knew her.

The rest of the day went on like any normal day at P.S. 118. Helga was a bit more quiet than usual, but nobody seemed to notice. There were only a few hours of school left and everyone was getting antsy. Mr. Simmons, as always, was having a hard time controlling the class and getting everyone to focus on whatever subject they were supposed to be trying to learn.

Phoebe was intently taking notes, and Gerald was doodling in his notebook. Helga had her head down on her desk; she wasn't paying attention to Mr. Simmons, but was instead half drifted off and half watching the rest of the class from her sideways view. Arnold was trying to pay attention to their teacher, but he was distracted, not only by the rest of the class, but by Helga and her going to see her family after school.

He couldn't imagine her family acting the way that Helga said they would. How could they not be worried? And then he thought of when he ran into Big Bob at the flea market; he had seemed more angry than he was concerned. How could he just let Helga go back there and live there like nothing had ever happened? There had to be something he could do.

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A/N: sorry this chapter is so short. I just really wanted to get something up for you guys. I'm going to start working on the next chapter now.. haha so hopefully it won't be too long before I get that up as well. : )


	11. Chapter 11

A/n: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Glad you guys like it!

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The day ended and everyone was ecstatic. The kids filtered out of the classroom and through the halls. Like every other school day, they were happy to be headed home, to play outside, to get home cooked meals, and to rest after a tiring day at PS 118.

Arnold walked out of the school with Gerald, where several of their classmates were still hanging out.

"Hey Arnold," Stinky said as the two of them walked by, "Sid just told me that he saw you eating lunch with Helga today. You don't like-her like-her, do you?"

"Aww man, Arnold," Gerald chirped in, "See, this is how stupid rumors get started. That's crazy. How could you ever like-like Helga when she's always shooting spitballs at you all day?"

Arnold was torn. He didn't want to be made fun of for the rest of his days at PS 118, but he that wasn't to say that what Stinky had said wasn't true. At least, he did 'like' Helga, but he didn't know yet if he 'liked-liked' her. Maybe he did…

"So what if I did?" he responded, "There's nothing wrong with Helga."

As he started to walk away, he could see their stunned faces in his peripheral vision.

"Gee wilikers!" Stinky said, his jaw had dropped, "He does like her!"

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Helga's own jaw had dropped as well. She had been sitting along the side of the stairs the whole time, just out of sight. None of them had even known she had been there, but she had heard everything. Arnold had actually stuck up for her! She wondered if he was just being nice or if he did like her like she liked him.

Once the boys had gone (probably to play some baseball or down to the comic store to pick up the newest release), Helga got up from her spot. She headed to the boarding house to find Arnold.

As she was walking up to the door, however, she heard Gerald's voice from inside. Instead of knocking, she ducked beneath the windowsill and waited.

"Look," she heard Arnold say, "There's a lot about Helga that you don't know about."

"Well, tell me then. I just can't understand how you can like-her like-her."

"It's not that simple. It's not something I can just tell everyone. You just have to trust me. There's more to Helga than meets the eye."

Gerald shrugged, "Alright man, I trust you. But seriously, how do you go from liking a girl like Lila to liking a girl like Helga?"

"Like I said, it's complicated. I really can't say anything, that wouldn't be fair to Helga. I don't want to spread any rumors."

Helga sank down against the side of the building. She couldn't believe that Arnold actually did like-her like-her! But he had left it up to her. She could tell he wasn't going to do anything until she was ready to show the real her… to everyone. That was the girl he liked, not the one that shot spitballs at him during class. She got up and snuck around the side of the building to where the fire escape was located. As she stepped onto the first rung the top made a shrieking noise. She stopped and looked around to make sure nobody had heard it before she continued climbing.

She hurried across the top of the building toward Arnold's bedroom window, which he always kept unlocked. As she was climbing down, she turned around and nearly fell off. She was shocked to see Arnold standing there, his arms folded across his chest.

"You could have used the front door," he said.

"Oh" Helga replied, "Right. Well, it sounded like you were busy. So I just let myself in."

Arnold rolled his eyes, but then froze. He had only just realized that Helga must have overheard him and Gerald talking downstairs. Had she overheard him saying that he liked her?

"How did you know I was up here, by the way?"

"Oh," Arnold said, "I heard the ladder. It's all rusted and makes a horrible shrieking sound now if you try to climb it. Grandpa was supposed to replace it but never got around to it."

"So," she started, "Want to go for a walk then?"

"Where are we walking to?" Arnold asked.

Helga sighed. "My house… eventually. I'm in no rush to get there, but hopefully we'll get there before Bob gets home. Maybe he'll forget I was gone and I can just stay in my room all night."

The two of them left Arnold's room and made their way downstairs. They ran into Arnold's Grandpa who told them to "have a good time!" As the door closed behind then, Arnold's grandpa chuckled and smiled. Even he could tell that Arnold and Helga had feelings for each other.

At first they walked along without saying anything. Arnold let Helga lead the way even though it didn't seem like she knew exactly where they were going either. They just walked along. They passed the rest of their classmates who were at the vacant lot playing a game of baseball. Gerald had noticed them and tried to keep everyone distracted so they wouldn't notice Arnold was walking with Helga. He knew Arnold liked Helga, but he still didn't want his friend to get made fun of by everyone else, which was sure to happen if they found out Arnold liking Helga wasn't just some rumor.

Helga was lost in her thoughts. She was trying to figure out what she was going to say to her family if they realized she had "run away." Arnold took notice and bumped into her on purpose. She looked over at him with a mean glare, but then started laughing when she saw he was laughing.

"Helga, you need to be more positive," he said.

"I know," Helga replied, "But you of all people should realize that life isn't always as positive as you'd like to think it should be."

"Still, I wouldn't want to live life worrying about every little thing that's gone wrong. Eve if there are more bad things than good things, at least it's not all bad. And despite all the bad things you've been through, you're still a good person."

The two continued walking and moved on to happier subjects. First they talked about school and the usual subjects you talk about with someone you're not really best friends with yet. Eventually, though, they found that they had a lot in common. Helga kept asking Arnold about the music he listened to. She'd never listened that kind of music before, but she had to admit she kind of fell in love with it the other night in Arnold's room. So Arnold told her about all the big names she would check out and what songs she should definitely listen to.

Arnold asked Helga about her writing. She always got the highest marks on essays or stories they had to write for class. With the way Helga acts, Arnold never really understood Helga's love of writing.

They walked for about an hour, which was a pretty short time. Still, to kids their age, an hour felt like a lifetime, and they really got to know more about each other. Eventually, though, they found themselves in front of Helga's house. It seemed to loom down on them, despite the fact that the day was bright and sunny.

"Time to face reality, I guess," Helga said. She headed up to the front door and pulled out the key from her bag.

"Can I come in?" asked Arnold.

"Sure, but just remember… my mom isn't going to be making us dinner and my dad isn't going to be telling childhood stories. My house is a lot different than yours."

They walked in and found that the house was silent. Well, almost silent; Miriam was asleep on the sofa and every once in a while she let out a low snore. Helga found the phone and dialed the number for the school. She held the phone up to Miriam's face.

Arnold watched as Helga got her mom to tell principal Wartz that Helga was telling the truth and she'd been visiting family. He could tell that Miriam had no idea what she was saying since she was half asleep. He followed Helga up to her room.

"So, you aren't going to confront them?" he asked.

"Like I said," she replied, "It's not as easy as it looks. I know Miriam won't be bothered for long. She'll just be glad I'm safe…. But Bob, we'll I don't want to know how he'll react"

"I have an idea," Arnold said. He paused. "I saw him the afternoon I found you. He seemed really angry. He said you were worrying your mother."

"Well, obviously that's not true; you saw how she acted downstairs," Helga said.

They heard the front door open and someone stomp through the doorway. Helga had been calm, but she immediately got up and shut her door. She looked to Arnold and motioned for him not to make any noise, and then she stuck her ear against the door in order to listen to what was going on.

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	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. So, sadly, this story is coming to an end soon… I think. But I have other ideas for other stories or possibly some kind of continuation of this. So I hope that when I'm finished this that you'll stick around and check out the new stuff I work on. Thanks again for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing… it really means a lot and helps me to stay motivated to keep writing =)

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Helga quickly turned around and put her back against the door. She was trying to come up with a plan, but her brain couldn't work fast enough. There were footsteps on the stairs; a sign that Bob was coming to investigate her room.

"Uhhhh… Arnold! Closet! Now!" she yelled in a whisper as she hurried to her closet door, which she swung open.

Arnold jumped off of her bed and sat in her closet.

"Don't make any noise," Helga said to him, "I'll let you know when it's safe to come back out."

Arnold just nodded and shut the door, leaving it open just a crack so that he could tell what was going on. He watched as Helga pounced onto her bed and grabbed a nearby magazine to pretend she had been reading it. It was only seconds later that her father bounded into the room. He looked around angrily; Arnold wasn't sure for what.

"Where have you been, missy?" he yelled.

Helga, who was surprisingly keeping her composure pretty well, simply looked up nonchalantly before giving her reply, "You should know where I've been. Aren't you parent-people supposed to know where your children are all the time? Isn't that part of your job?"

Arnold could guess where their conversation was going to go. Big Bob was going to continue to be angry and Helga was going to lie her way out of the situation. He imagined a door slamming when the conversation (or sparring match) was over. So he focused his attention on other things.

Still keeping quiet, he took in his surroundings. Helga's clothes were hung neatly on hangers and her shoes were in a box on the floor. Arnold wondered why Helga always wore the same pink dress and never any of the other outfits she had. Then he noticed the back of the closet was much further back behind the one row of clothes. There seemed to be more space back there and he figured the closet must actually be bigger than he thought. Pushing the hangers gently out of the way, he walked past them toward the back wall.

Meanwhile, Helga and her father were still yelling at each other.

"You had your mother so worried!" Bob screamed, "What if she had an anxiety attack?"

"Worried?" Helga said, "When I came home she was sleeping and didn't even realize that I just walked through the front door! How is that worried? If you didn't think I was here then why didn't you call the police or something? You and Miriam suck at being parents!"

Bob couldn't even reply, he just made a sort of angry growl and left the room (slamming the door behind him just as Arnold had predicted). She made a fist and almost slammed it into the wall, but stopped herself. She slid down behind the door and yelled out as loud as she could to get our her frustration.

Arnold wasn't sure what to think when he saw what was behind that row of clothes. He had come face to face with a sort of shrine that looked just like him. He didn't understand it; he thought that Helga had hated him all these years. Suddenly, memories came flooding back to him.

He remembered finding a pink book with poems about him in it. The last poem spelled out Helga's name with the first letter of every line! He remembered Helga saving him from that girl at the beach that just wanted to use him to win the sand castle competition. There were so many little incidents where Helga had helped him out in some way, even if she had acted like a jerk for most of the time. He never really thought anything of those moments, probably because she would always treat him like crap afterwards. Then Arnold thought about all the stupid things he'd ever done when he 'liked' someone. He realized that Helga didn't hate him, she just had a weird way of showing that she liked him.

"A-Arnold…" Helga said, heading over toward the closet. "You can come out. It's safe. My dad left."

She didn't get any reply, which she thought was strange. Then she had a thought of horror. Rushing to the door now, she swung it open. She could see Arnold's feet just beyond the dresses that were hanging there. Oh no! She thought. How do I explain that?

"Arnold, I can explain." She said and then thought Doh! Why did I say that?

It was still quiet, but then she heard Arnold laughing. She shoved her dresses aside and saw Arnold standing there laughing.

"Hey!" Helga shouted angrily.

"Sorry," he said, still chuckling, "I couldn't help it. Helga, all this time I thought you hated me. But you just like me!"

"Soo…. You don't think I'm a creep for that?" Helga asked cautiously, pointing to the shrine she had built over the years.

Arnold looked at her and thought for a moment. He came to realize that with a family that never really cared for her and always forgot her name, it probably made sense that she would keep her emotions hidden and bottled up. This was her way of expressing herself and he could understand that.

Then he had another memory. He remembered the first time he had ever met Helga. It was the first day of preschool and his Grandpa drove him to the school. It was pouring rain outside, and he had worn his favorite boots and raincoat. They pulled up to the building and he got out, opening up his umbrella. It was then that he noticed a girl, the same age as him, headed toward the building. She was soaking wet and muddy up to her knees; Arnold found it odd that the girl's parents didn't drive her to school like his Grandpa had driven him. Underneath all the mud, Arnold thought she was cute. He remembered she was even wearing the same pink bow she wore even now.

He stopped to think about that and realized that it was no wonder that Helga liked him. Her parents must have treated her horribly even back then and he had been someone who seemed to care. He wondered what Helga would have turned out like if he hadn't shared his umbrella with her that day.

Arnold looked up at Helga, "No… well, to be honest, it did freak me out a bit at first…"

He had paused, but before he had a chance to say the rest of what he wanted to say they both heard someone say something from downstairs.

"Helga?" it was Olga, "Baby sister, where have you been?"

Helga sighed, "Great… she's home."

She heard her sister rushing up the stairs and braced herself. About three seconds later, Olga had bounded into the room and wrapped her around Helga (Helga had kept her own arms down at her sides). Then Olga looked up.

"Oh, I'm sorry Little Sister. I didn't realize you had friends over," she said when she noticed Arnold standing there a bit awkwardly.

"No, it's fine. I can leave if you want," Arnold said, thinking that maybe Helga should spend time with her family.

However, Helga gave him a look that was definitely telling him not to leave.

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A/N: gahh! So I'm not sure yet. The next chapter may be the end but I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking maybe I'll do some sort of continuation fic that's kind of separate and with a new sort of plot. I'm totally open to ideas/suggestions!

A/N 2: I've had this done for like a week, but I've been letting it sit so I can think it over a bit. But I'm just going to upload it now before I feel like I should completely redo it again. Hope it's not terrible =P


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: So so sorry for not updating this for over half a year. I realize I tend to do that with a lot of my fics, and I really wanted to make sure I finished this one even if just to prove that I could do it. Thank you for reading and reviewing and favorite-ing and story alerting and everything. Thanks for getting me to work on this again and to hopefully finish it. Here's the latest chapter, enjoy!

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"Olga, you really have the worst timing ever," Helga said as Olga released her from her hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm just glad that you're okay. Don't you realize how much you had me worried?" her sister replied.

Arnold noticed a small (almost but not quite barely there) smile come across Helga's lips, "Well, thanks for caring. I guess I should be glad that someone in this family does once in a while."

"Well, I'm going to make some delicious chocolate chip cookies downstairs in the kitchen if you want to come down and join me," Olga said, "And your little friend can join us to if he wants to stay."

Helga looked at Arnold and shrugged as if to say, "It's up to you."

"Sure, I think that would be fun," Arnold replied.

Olga seemed to skip down the stairs (if such a thing were possible). She seemed as overly happy as ever to have bonding time with her "baby sister." Helga just rolled her eyes.

"You know," Arnold started, "You aren't completely alone here. Olga may be overbearing and she might steal your parents' attention, but at least she loves you."

Helga sighed, "I know. Sometimes I just feel awful for disliking her so much, but I can't help but feel jealous. All those times Bob called me Olga, all those times they forgot to pick me up from daycare or forgot to come to awards ceremonies. I guess it doesn't make sense to take it out on Olga though."

Arnold decided to take a risk. He took her hand in his and led her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Olga had all of the ingredients out on the counter and was already mixing some of them in a large bowl. She beamed when she saw Arnold leading Helga into the room, but Helga gave her a look that said, "don't say a word."

"Would you mind getting the eggs from the refrigerator, baby sister?" Olga sang.

Olga handed Arnold the mixing bowl and spoon while Helga got the eggs.

"Okay, two large eggs," Olga said. She decided to take over as director and let Arnold and Helga mix the ingredients.

"How many cups of flour, Olga?" Arnold asked, getting the measuring cup ready.

"Four and a quarter cups," she replied and Arnold dumped it into the bowl.

"Want to mix, Helga?"

She took the spoon and started mixing. Unfortunately she started mixing a bit too quickly and flour sprayed out of the bowl, covering both her and Arnold.

"Sorry!" she squeaked and started trying to get it out of her hair.

"You missed a bit," Arnold said, reaching to dust some of the flour off of her nose.

This moment would have been romantic… had the flour not caused her to sneeze, sending even more flour everywhere.

"Sorry!' she said again.

Arnold just smiled and laughed, "Maybe I should do the mixing from now on."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

It didn't take them much longer to finish up the mixing and for the oven to preheat. Olga volunteered to do the baking portion and told Arnold and Helga that they could take a break and come back in half an hour or so.

Helga went into the bathroom to try to clean up a bit from the flour incident and Arnold waiting on the stairs.

When she came back out he said to her, "Want to take a walk? I kind of wasn't finished what I was trying to say earlier."

It was starting to get dark, but the sun wasn't quite set. They started off down the block.

"Soo…" Arnold said, not quite sure where to begin. "What I was saying earlier…"

He was quiet for a minute and it was staring to freak Helga out. He knew her secret and even though she had overheard what he said earlier she was still afraid of being rejected by him. Even though she'd always been a jerk to him, she cared more about what he thought of her than her own family.

"Soo…?" she said, prompting him to say something and break the awkward silence.

"Well, about what I said earlier," he started. "It's just that I want you to know that I understand. About the closet thing…"

Helga was too embarrassed to look at him, she just stared at the ground while he kept talking.

"And… I kind of like it. I remembered all those times where you showed the real Helga, all the times you helped me out even if it was in some small way. I'm glad you care about me."

She was still facing the ground in front of her, but shifted her eyes so that she could try to see if he was looking at her. Her heart was racing and she wanted to know what exactly he was trying to say to her.

He didn't say anything else, however, he just grabbed her hand and twirled her around. The other night in his room her movements were shy, but in this moment she seemed to float across the ground.

"See, what I'm trying to say is," he continued, putting his other hand on her back and taking the lead even though there wasn't any music playing, "I think I like you Helga, I think I like you a lot."

She looked him in the eye to make sure this wasn't some sort of trick.

"I don't think you should run away from anything anymore. I want to help you stay… if you want me to that is."

"People will talk, Arnold. If you think I gave you hell all those years, imagine the hell you'll get from everyone for liking me."

She hated herself for saying that. She wanted desperately to be noticed, but when someone finally did she just wanted to go back to being invisible. What made her so deserving of Arnold's attention?

Suddenly they stopped and he moved closer to her.

"Stop pushing yourself away from everyone," he whispered in her ear. Then he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"I don't know if I can be this girl around everyone else," Helga said.

"Even if you're not ready now, I think you will be eventually," Arnold replied, "I don't care what everyone else thinks."

"So… does this mean?" she started.

"If you're ready to try then I'm ready to be by your side," he said and then took her hand and turned back to the direction they'd come from. "Come on, I bet Olga's finished with the baking by now!"


End file.
